My daughter's 13th birthday celebration at home with her friends was Saturday, October 29. This was also the day of record autumn snowfall in Connecticut. Though my weather guru at the gas station near work in Waterbury told me it was coming, I shrugged and laughed and said, "See you Monday." Perhaps the laughter was the big mistake. This guy is always right about the weather and I had no doubt about the snow and the slipperiness it would bring this time of year. But I should not have laughed. Look what happened:
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| From November 2, 2011 |
This old Casper looked as solemn as a prophet of doom after a few hours. He gave me a sad glance as I stepped out to get the beautiful pizzas that Elenni's delivered promptly at 6 p.m. despite our circumstances at the top of a steep hill where we were sitting in the dark.
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| From November 2, 2011 |
Little did we know as my daughter and her ten best friends danced and laughed and talked (This word is inadequate to describe the amount of talking 11 girls can do in the dark for hours on end, but it will have to do as I thaw out this morning.) that we would spend the next five days living like Stone Age barbarians huddled around the fire.
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| From November 2, 2011 |
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| From November 2, 2011 |
Life's a dance--until the electric company leaves you stranded because it didn't pay the out-of-staters who helped out at the previous disaster (We remember her as Irene.), and folks don't come. Then life is a slow crawl to the nearest fire as you wait and wonder about the health and well-being of your child and your home. We ended up spending most of our time at my parents' home in Newtown, where they have a generator and we managed to shower and eat hot food and stay warm. The dance went on.
Happy Birthday, Adella, and thank you, mom and dad!
11 Comments
This will be a birthday neither of you forget. I can't imagine (remember) having so many giggling, squealing chatty girls in one space. Whew. I bet your ears are still ringing. ;) Happy Birthday Adella. Thank God for parents.
ReplyDeleteBelated happy birthday to your daughter. Sorry you had all those problems after the storm.
ReplyDeleteWhat a birthday to remember!
ReplyDeleteI so well remember 8 squealing, giggling, yelling 8 year olds. The decibels went over the roof and it took me days to get over the noise overload. Glad the girls had a great tie anyway.
ReplyDeleteW have all become too reliant on our modern facilities. I well remember a 10 day outage in Montreal in March with 15F on the thermometer. Thank God we had our tiny kerosene camping stove to heat the baby's bottles.
Here, it all else fails, I rely on the BBQ gas bottle.
Wishing your beautiful young lady many happy returns of the day, perhaps without snowstorms.
You guys did have a miserable Halloween -- PLUS!! Your electric company has obviously been copying other government departments! Think they learned anything???? A very Happy Birthday to Adella and I'm so glad your Mom and Dad were there for both of you! I do hope things are better now! Have a great, snow-free week, Sandy!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
A birthday spent differently... memorable!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures.
Well, she won't forget THIS birthday!! Sadly, I don't think utilities companies are any better downunder here in OZ. Maybe there's an international customer 'service' course they all sign up for??!!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with the last comment - being another Australian! I belive our power costs are outrageous! Anyways, your experience must have been an amazing shock and a great test of patience! The will come when you can laugh and pass the story down through the family as an icon!
ReplyDeleteWhat a birthday! Snow is lovely - as long as you still gave light and warmth.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you managed to thaw out at your parents.
Happy 13th to Adella - she'll never forget that birthday! Your photos of the storm are wonderful, Sandy, as is your retelling of events. Funny but ultimately serious. Hope you're all thawed out by now.
ReplyDeleteHere it is Wednesday night, and I am wondering if you all have power yet. Every morning I hear, “No Power, Yet!” What a horrible experience. We dod not have a generator, but we often talk about getting one. We lose power easily way out here in the country, and it always takes a good bit of time to get it back on. Fortunately we heat with Propane so we do have heat. Hope you are back to normal. genie
ReplyDeleteThanks for being here.